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Sunday, December 23, 2012

THE TONY BLAIR FAITH FOUNDATION

Dignitaries at the Event

I appreciate the position of some readers of this column who
felt I should respond to the latest piece by Adamu Adamu Re: Hajj and the
Saudis. To my mind, the writer has failed to address any of the issues
I raised in my ample rejoinder concerning his three part series on the subject
matter. What he succeeded in doing, our respected readers can discern, was to
expose the source of his aspersion against the Saudi Hajj authorities –
non-Muslim writers and other armchair critics, and even zanaadiqah who
have not performed a single Hajj in their life, or the last time they took part
in the ritual was decades ago. Hence, Adamu Adamu does not deserve another
response. But I take a solemn oath of prompt response to any piece of shi’atic
disposition clothed in the raiment of intellectualism!

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation states that it ‘promotes
respect and understanding about the world’s religions through education and
multi-faith action.’ It shows ‘how faith can be a powerful force for good in
the modern world.’

TranscorpHilton was the venue for the official launch,on Thursday 22, November 2012, ‘of
Tony Blair Faith Foundation-led work in Nigeria to encourage reconciliation
between Christian and Muslim communities.’ In attendance were: Mr Tony Blair, Founder
and Patron of the Foundation, Bishop Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Designate, and His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordanvia video-message. Also present were
President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by the Minister of Housing, Ms Pepple,
His Eminence Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto,His Royal Highness, Estu Nupe, Alhaji
Yahaya Abubakar,Most
Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Anglican Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna
and Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President, Christian Association of Nigeria among
others.

This launch was preceded by a video conference which, on the
one hand, had the dignitaries mentioned above and some Muslim and Christian
secondary students from Nigeria, and on the other, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and
Christian secondary students from the United Kingdom. This was with a view to
encouraging ‘greater dialogue and understanding between faiths.’ It also ‘aimed
to break down barriers, and give the students the knowledge to resist extremist
voices and ideology – working towards a longer term peace for the next
generation in Nigeria.’

On his video-message played during the launch, His Royal
Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan said that Nigeria is the best and
happiest country in the world, thus all should work towards making it peaceful.
He spoke about the visit of the World Council of Churches and The RoyalJordanian Aal al-Bayt Institute for
Islamic Thought to Nigeria,between 22nd–26th May 2012 (1st-5th Rajab, 1433 AH).The visit was proposed in reaction to
the numerous incidents of fierce inter-communal strife which have affected the
lives of Nigerians during 2000-2012, and the awareness that—at least since the
Bosnian war of 1993-1995—Nigeria is the country in the world where the most
severe inter-communal violence between Christians and Muslims has been
experienced.The
delegation sought to understand the reasons behind this violence. The objectives
of the visit were to: (a) fact-find and investigate first-hand, impartially and
credibly, the situation on the ground in Nigeria, and the various factors that
have led to the present tensions; (b)express clearly to both the political and religious
leadership in Nigeria the concern and anxiety of the international community about
the current situation; (c)demonstrate an international model of Muslims and Christians working
together in an inter-religious engagement aimed at fostering peace and harmony
between people of different religions; (d)identify areas or projects where religious institutes,
persons, texts, or messages can help ameliorate the situation in Nigeria.
According to His Royal Highness, Prince Ghazi, every religious text could be
quoted out of context to justify violence and killing of innocents, heinous
acts not sanctioned by any divine authority.

Bishop Justin Welby

When it was his turn to speak, Bishop Justin Welby,
Archbishop of Canterbury Designate, informed the gathering of his oft-repeated
visits to Nigeria. ‘I think,’ he said, ‘this is about my
seventy-fifth trip to Nigeria. So, you see, I’m a bit addicted to the place.’
(Laughter from the audience) ‘The situation in Nigeria,’ he continued, ‘is
always complicated. I started a lecture some years ago, in Washington where
they asked me to speak about the country, by saying whatever you say about
Nigeria, however complicated you may sound, you have to end by saying: it’s
not as simple as that! Because this is one of the most wonderful, diverse,
impressive countries on earth, and almost anything you say in any place, is
contradicted somewhere else in Nigeria. There is, above all, an energy, and a
capacity……it has all the abilities needed and the skills needed to be the great
regional power….and, because I suspect there are no South Africans here….’
(He paused for effect, and slowly scanned the meeting room in a dramatic way,
and then said) ‘Clearly when they expand the permanent members of the Security
Council, I’ve no doubt; we should be the African member. But I’m not saying
that publicly.’ (More laughter and applause from the audience)

Bishop Welby then asked: ‘So, what is this project about,
and why do we, eh… Tony Blair principally, I and Prince Ghazi, why do we have
the honour and privilege to have any role in it? It is not to say we bring
answers, but as I said to someone this morning in one of our meetings, in the
UK over the years, particularly by Tony Blair during the Northern Ireland peace
process, we discovered that sometime as a country, when there is conflict, it
is hopeful to have people involved who are not part of the story – who have not
been in the story since the beginning…not to bring answers, but be able to
listen, observe, and by the Grace of God, contribute something useful to help
those to have the answers, who are Nigerians.’

Mr Tony Blair

Next to speak was Mr Tony Blair, Founder and Patron of the
Foundation. When you listen to Mr Blair any time, he reminds you of the saying
of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), that ‘there is an element of
wizardry in oratory.’ Mr Blair is indeed a wizard in the art of public
speaking and elucidation and clear exposition of his opinion on any matter. If
you get carried away listening to Mr Blair, you shall be carried away! Through
this element of wizardry in Mr Blair’s oratory truth could be seen as
falsehood and vice-versa, it all depends on what side he chooses to support. Is
there any wonder then how the United Nations was rendered useless, the world
confused, and many a rational voce muted at the face of well-articulated
presentation of a false dossier on Iraq’s possession of WMDs?

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "I am only a human
being, and you people have disputes. May be someone amongst you can present his
case in a more eloquent and convincing manner than the other, and I give my
judgment in his favour according to what I hear. Beware! If ever I give (by
error)somebody
something of his brother's right then he should not take it as I have only given
him a piece of Fire." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadeeth No. 638. Vol. 3)

And so it was; the fire that was ignited in Iraq is still burning;
so, it was a wise way of penance of some sort for people like Tony Blair who,
not only fanned the embers of the inferno, but who actually provided fuel, by
word and deed, of such crises as Iraq, to now spearhead any movement that would
ensure peace and harmony among diverse communities and show how ‘faith can
be a powerful force for good in the modern world.’

Mr Tony Blair started by stating his desire of being an oft-repeated
visitor to Nigeria, to come here 75 times just as Bishop Welby had done.
Because, according to him, ‘Nigeria is the most unique country in the world,
it astonishes, astounds me.’ He went further to support Bishop Welby’s
assertion of Nigerians being the ones to solve their own issues. ‘The
problems of Nigerian,’ he said, ‘would be sorted out by Nigerians….

‘Something that is important to clarify; sometimes people
think that when we talk about the difficulties of religious conflicts or strife,
and they say the sole issue is to do with religion, and interfaith relation and
so on. No, there are many issues. Many issues that are economic, and social and
political that need to be resolved. However, the purpose of my Foundation, why
I began it, is that I do think not all of the answers, but part of the answer
lies on people of faith coming together, being together, learning from each
other, working with each other, speaking with each other, acting with each
other. And part of the difficulty from my profession, politics, is that
sometimes politics finds the religious dimension too difficult, so it kind of
wants to ignore that dimension, and only treads simply on the political or the
economic. My view is we need to deal with everything including the issues of
how different faiths work together and live together. So, I began my Foundation
with a very peculiar objective in mind, and that is to create a situation in
which alongside a very high level dialogue between the very eminent persons in
the faith community, alongside that we would try to have some practical
programmes that bring people together. And bring them together in two ways: first,
young people. We just had a video conference between a school in Darby in
England, and school students here in Nigeria. Unless we get to the youth of the
country, then we are never going to be able to make progress. And here is the
most exciting thing, most young people, instinctively, want to be open with
each other and to love each other. But it is important at an early age that we
introduce them to each other so that is made more easy. Because often what
happens is, that later in life other influences come in and turn them in a
direction. What we want to do through the school exchange programme that we now
run in 19 different countries in the world, where we join up students in
dialogue with each other, is to help them understand each other, know each
other better. And as I just said to the children there, where there is
knowledge, there is more likely to be understanding; and where there is
understanding we are more likely to get along. Where there is ignorance there
is often fear, where there is fear, there is more likely to be conflict. So,
the idea is to replace the ignorance with knowledge, and the fear with
understanding.’

Ms Ama Pepple

President Goodluck Jonathan’s address was read by his
representative, the Minister of Housing, Ms Ama Pepple. ‘I commend you’,
said the President, ‘for this singular and timely joint initiative. The idea
is not only creative; it is also consistent with our effort to promote
inter-religious dialogue and harmony.

‘Our country, Nigeria, is blessed by God with two of the
world’s great religions who honour Him in their different ways. For
generations, the two religions have coexisted and their proponents have lived
side by side in peace and harmony knowing that both religions expose the
universal values of peace, freedom, human rights, dignity and the oneness of
humanity.

‘Our young people can easily be seduced by false prophets
who take them to the path of violence and hatred. It is very important that
religion is neither misused nor abused to justify violence.

‘Inter religious dialogue is already playing an important
role in our society. The Federal Government continues to promote religious
harmony by constantly engaging the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, jointly
chaired by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Sultan
of Sokoto. While progress on this front is satisfactory, it must be pointed out
that some of the religious tensions in the country are politically motivated.

‘We must now use both platforms to call on all believers
to reject religiously anchored violence, advance tolerance and promote mutual
understanding. We must emphasize the imperative of dialogue as part of our
effort to create peace and advance development.’

After listening to the President’s speech, I kept wondering
what he actually meant by ‘satisfactory’ in Government’s engagement with the Nigeria
Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) ‘to promote religious harmony’. Can there be ‘satisfactory’
interfaith ‘harmony’ under the current leadership of CAN? Other inter-religious efforts are succeeding
with many Christian-Muslim peace initiatives in many parts of this country.
Christian leaders like Most Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Anglican
Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna and John Cardinal Onaiyekan are doing a
lot towards Christian-Muslim mutual understanding. The recent nomination for
2012 Nobel Peace Prize award of Cardinal John Onaiyekan and His
Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto is enough to buttress the point that the
incompatibility in NIREC’s co-chairmanship is not concealed to the world. The
normal thing was for the nomination of the peace award to encompass the current
President of CAN, and His Eminence, the Sultan. But the nomination committee
was diligent enough to recommend real peace makers for the award; hence it
disregarded NIREC joint chairmanship and settled for a former President of CAN
(John Onaiyekan) rather than the current (Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor)!

John Cardinal Onaiyekan

The above sentiment was shared by LEADERSHIP Board of Editors
and its top management as it ‘voted Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III,
Sultan of Sokoto, and John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of the
Catholic Diocese of Abuja, as LEADERSHIP Persons of the Year 2012.’ On the
front page of its Monday, December 3, 2012 edition, LEADERSHIP wrote: ‘In a
year when religious turmoil deteriorated to a frighteningly new level and a
number of religious leaders lost their heads, Sultan Abubakar III and John
Cardinal Onaiyekan emerged as powerful moderating voices that fundamentally prevented
the country from toppling over. By their words, actions, gestures and
comportment, they reminded us of what leadership really means. For deploying
their voices of restraint at crucial moments to keep the country’s fragile
peace, these soldiers of faith are LEADERSHIP Persons of the Year 2012.’
Though he is the current co-chair of NIREC and President of CAN, Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor did not have the honour of either the nominationfor 2012 Nobel Peace Prize or LEADERSHIP
Persons of the Year 2012 award!

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

It was the turn of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the CAN President
to make his remarks at the

Tony Blair Faith Foundation meeting. ‘We must
talk;’ he commenced, ‘but what I’ve always said is, I believe in the
progressive dialogue. Dialogue where we can set goals, timelines; we can look
at the things we want to achieve and be able to say, within this time we can
achieve this, we can achieve that. Honestly, to find great people coming from
around the world to support us in this, is incredible. I want to thank you, Mr
Tony Blair, for this move. May God do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

‘Nigeria is a great nation, but greatness can only come
out when there is understanding, there is oneness, and we are focused on the
same thing. Because as at now it’s like the greatness is being swallowed up by
distractions. A lot of things are taking us away from what we ought to
concentrate on….

‘The way forward is with us. And I’m sure; I’m convinced
that we will get there. I’m convinced that there is no religion that encourages
violence. (This is the first time I’ve heard him speak of this conviction).
I know that for a start, myself and my co-chair, we have understanding. (Really?
I wonder). But it is how we can take this to everybody else, and I’m sure,
by the Grace of God, we will be there.

‘The challenges we are facing as a nation today, in
my opinion, is temporal.’ (Don’t ask me about the grammar… I’m only
quoting verbatim…). ‘Because, somehow, we would be able to locate the way to
deal with some of these problems; not just for us to sit and talk, but talk,
about how we can actually deal with the problems.’

His Eminence, The Sultan

His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto said: ‘I want to
personally thank Mr Tony Blair for his concern, for his love, for his
commitment to peace and stability in Nigeria. If the level of concern and
commitment is used to judge what will give somebody a citizenship of a country,
minus the number of times he visits that country,’ (Laughter from the
audience), ‘I think Mr Tony Blair is most certainly, and honourably qualified
to be a Nigerian.’ (More laughter)

‘What you don’t know,’ His Eminence continued, ‘is
that Mr Tony Blair just lost his father of 89 years old, in spite of that, he
didn’t cancel his trip to Nigeria, he still came down here, to be with us. So,
I want everybody to condole with him for this loss.’

Turning to Mr Blair, His Eminence said: ‘I urge you to
continue the good work you are doing, and insha Allah, as my co-chair said, we
will not disappoint you.’

On the video conference between school children from Nigeria
and their counterparts in UK, the Sultan was of the view that the pupils ‘captured
exactly what we have been trying to do. I’m very happy and contented that our
own youth are thinking in that direction, because the youth are definitely the
future of any country. And if these young men and women think the way they are
talking this morning, we are sure to achieve what we set to achieve.’

The Sultan also spoke about a similar programme, two years
ago, in Mina, Niger State, where 250 Christian and Muslim youth were brought
together in a conference. His Eminence said: ‘We are trying to stage a
second one.’ What is most important according to the Sultan is to
disseminate the proceedings of meetings ‘as the one we are having this
morning to a larger audience. It not enough for me and my co-chair to
understand one another, but as he said, and I concur, we have to take this
message down to those we lead. And we have to do that with all sincerity, with
all honesty, believing in our religions as being the religions of peace,
understanding one another, and not fighting one another.

During question time I made the following comment and asked
two questions: ‘Mr Chairman,’ I began, ‘my name is Abubakr Siddeeq. I
hope BishopJustin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury Designate, will call to mind our
long trip to Niger, Yobe, Maiduguri, Kano and Zamfara states, which we (I and
Imam Sani Isah of Waff Road Mosque, Kaduna) undertook with a team that he
(Bishop Welby) led from the Coventry Cathedral with the purpose of learning,
first-hand, reasons for religious crises in Nigeria, and how to bring all the
contending parties to participate in an international peace conference to be
convened in Nigeria under the auspices of theInternational Centre for
Reconciliation.

‘I’m happy His Royal Highness, Estu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya
Abubakar is here. Let me remind Bishop Welby of Darul Islam, a peaceful
community in the outskirts of Niger state that hosted us during our fact-finding
trip, and allowed us to dialogue with its members in their mosque. It will
interest the Archbishop of Canterbury Designate to know that the peaceful
community he visited no longer exist today. It has been wiped out, its men,
women and children banished and their dwellings levelled to the ground.

‘I will end with these questions: I want to know from
Bishop Welby what happened to the report written by his team after our trip.
Either that report was never studied by the recipients or the addressees have
refused to do the right thing. If since 2004 a report was submitted by a team
of experts headed by the current Archbishop of Canterbury Designate, on a way
forward in tackling religious crises in Nigeria, at a time when Taliban had not
yet transmuted to Boko Haram, then somebody has not been doing their job.
Bishop Welby, you have done a lot for peace in Nigeria, apart from your
incessant visits, you even threw caution to the wind when you and members of
your team stayed for three days and three nights between Yobe and Maiduguri
trying to make members of the Taliban, now Boko Haram key into the idea of the
international peace conference. I would not go into how your proposed
conference was killed at NIREC level through the influence of the then
head of the Aso Villa Chapel. But the point has been made: you’ve been talking;
your audience was not listening, or members of that audience chose to do
nothing.

‘Finally, to Mr Blair; do you see your Faith Foundation
resuscitating the peace conference that Bishop Welby’s team was not allowed to
convene?’

Unfortunately, I did not get any meaningful response from
both Mr Blair and Bishop Welby, as they understandably chose to tread carefully
due to the sensitive nature of the issues raised in my comment and questions. I
was however pleased with the fact that the message was conveyed; Bishop Welby was
visibly troubled when I mentioned the banishment by the Niger state government
of the Darul Islam peaceful community.

This is what I wrote on this column in 2010 concerning Bishop
Welby’s visit to Darul Islam:

Darul Islam was more than a mere group; it was a community on
the outskirts of Niger State. This was a peace-loving community. Members of the
LOC for the Peaceful Coexistence Conference of the Coventry Cathedral were
welcomed; with a few introductory remarks to the leader of Darul Islam on the
purpose of our visit, we (Muslims and Christians) were ushered into the masjid
(mosque) without discrimination. I want to see another group of Muslims in this
country that will admit Christian clergy into its mosque for the purposes of
dialogue and interfaith discourse! I am saying this because whenever we take
Christian (foreign) visitors for the tour of the National Mosque the ignorant
among the people would look at us with disapproval, and suspicion.

The leader directed a crier to summon people in Darul Islam
to the mosque for ‘an urgent and important matter.’ And within 15
minutes there were no rooms for the faithful to seat in the mosque; every
available space was occupied. Many leaned on the walls, and many more stood
outside behind the windows. Women in complete Islamic attire, and children were
at the rear of the masjid; you could not hear even the slightest din.
Everything was calm, peaceful. Nobody uttered a word without the consent of the
leader (Ameerul Mu’mineen).

With the permission of the leader, I briefly introduced the
LOC members to the Darul Isalam community, and stated our mission. Later, The
Reverend Canon Justin Welby, Co-Director of International Centre for
Reconciliation, directed a number of questions to the leader of the community.
‘Sheikh,’ he began, ‘we wonder what will make you choose to stay
here, far away from civilization, and basic amenities of modern life.’

‘You are right Reverend,’ started the leader of Darul
Islam, ‘we chose to be here because we want to be governed by Allah’s Laws.
Darul Isalam means the abode of peace, Islam; whoever comes here will be in
peace. We don’t belong to any sect be it Izala, Tariqah, Shia or what not. We
are Muslims for that is what Allah calls the adherents of Islaam in the Qur’an.
We don’t fight anybody, kill or destroy property. Darul Isalam has its market,
‘health centre’, a school for our children where they are taught Islaam and
what will not harm their faith of the so-called Western Education, and even
abattoir. We farm what we eat; we need nothing from anywhere. We are content
with what Allah has provided for us here. Our wells are overflowing with water,
these Lister engines you see around our mud-built houses are the source of
energy that illumines our homes; we are not in need of NEPA. Ours is a modest
life. The Governor (Abdulkadir Kure of the time) personally came here to plead
with us to leave, that he has earmarked a large plot of land for us within the
city. We showed our gratitude to, and prayed for him; we made him understand
that we prefer to stay here. He conceded, and left us alone. It may be that he
had seen that we pose no threat to anybody; we are peaceful.’

Unfortunately, this peaceful community of Darul Isalam was
banished from its home after the Boko Haram uprising in November 2009. It was
the outcome of an AIT Kakaaki Programme that featured two Abuja based
Imams: Fuad Adeyemi of Alhabibiya Academy and Nurudeen Khalid of NASS Mosque.
During the programme Imam Nurudeen spoke about ‘another dangerous group called
Darul Isalaam in Niger State.’ The group, he said, does not recognise the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. AIT used this part of Imam
Nurudeen’s intervention as a clip in its news for almost 2 days running. Of
course that drew the attention of the authorities, and the Niger State
Government in particular. The next thing we heard was the banishment of Darul
Isalam from Niger State.

Just before I wrote this piece one of the Project Officers
attached with the Coventry Cathedral, and member of the LOC of the Peaceful
Coexistence Conference visited me in my office. I asked him about Darul Isalam
and what his reaction was when he heard that they were driven away from their
community. His response was succinct: ‘It was a shame that such
peace-loving folks were expelled from their dwellings...’

It is really interesting. I tried commenting via my Google address but unfortunately I could not recall the password.

I think Blair wants something either personal interest or a national interest of UK. However handsome a snake looks like, his name is always a snake and I am happy with your words of caution in the introduction. At least if we have forgotten who he was, we cannot forget the loss of lives and destructions of wealth in Iraq; in addition to the Psychological torture Muslim world were subjected to. The inhuman treatment of our brothers and sisters in Fallujah is one out of many examples.

The CAN president is nothing but a stooge. Alhamdu lillah, it has been clearly revealed by the nominations for awards.

Boko haram and Darul Islam are two simple cases that are easier to manage than MEND of Niger Delta.

Our so called northern leaders are nothing but northern leathers. Their priority is always their pocket. Issue of Boko haram has been mismanaged to achieve some goals. Already many have been achieved.

Glad to stumble on ur blog. Do visit mine when chanced at kongoquips.wordpress.comTony Blair is trying to atone for the support he gave bush in Iraq. Someone should have emulated Tutu by walking out on him. Only a trip to The Hague will fit him and bush.

The contents of this blog are from my weekly column with LEADERSHIP Friday Newspapers. Therefore, the date of publication here may vary from that on which the original piece appeared on the Leadership column.